Vehicle bumper construction



lDe'.1,'19.,fs. n H s JANDUS ET AL 2,062,313

VEHICLE BUMPER CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 23V,v 1934 y@ Af g5.

.Patented Dec. l, -1936 f lUNITED STATES Herbert s. Jansusana Bladen M. short, Detroit, Mich., assignors to' Generalspring Bumper Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a:corporation of Michigan Application Febuaryaa, 1934, serial No. 712,470

1o canna` (c1. zes-55) This invention relates to improvements in yvehicle bumpers and a method of .making the same, the invention being highly desirable in connection with the manufacture and use of automo- 5 tive vehicle bumpers for either the front or rear of the car, although the invention may have other uses and purposes as will be apparent. to one skilled in the art,

In the automobile industry, the present trend is towards pronounced streamlining not only as to the vehicle body proper, but also as to all of the so-called accessories, commonly carried by the vehicle. Accordingly, it is desirable to have such a streamlining effect in the bumper.-

In the past, diculty'has been experienced in -an endeavor to reach a happy medium between sufcient strength and rigidity and lightness in Weight. It is also desirable at the present time,

to providea bumper more proficient in its shock absorbing capabilities and diiculty 'has also been experienced in lendeavoring to accomplishl this result without detracting from the appearance,v of the bumper and in keeping the bumper and`4 its mounting means to a size within reasonable limits. s

rHeretofore, the practice has been to provide bumpers with buier clamps or brackets to prevent bumpers on meetingvehicles from becom All of these ing interlocked with each other. buffer platesv of whichwe are aware have' been full-sized buffer clampsextending both .above and below the vehicle bumper and attachable to the vehicle' bumper in some particular location, the plates being additional elements added to the bumper after completion of the construc- It is also an object of this invention-to provide a vehicle bumper of much more thanmnecessary` 50 and considerably more than average strength and yet relatively light in weight, of reasonable size and excellent appearance. 1 f

A vfurther object of this invention is the `provision of a vehicle bumper including a' plurality 55 of impact bars and facing means, all shaped to provide, when assembled, ra i uniformstreamline effect. Y

Still another object of this invention'is the pro'- Y vision of a bumper of few parts, exceedingly simple to assemble and arranged, when ass'eme 5 bled, to provide considerable strengthwith lightf ness rof construction.v .l l n l It is also an object of'lthis invention topro'-v videa vehiclebumperlof streamline'-appearance; v composing relatively few partswithy exposedpor'l 10 tions of the parts also streamline in" character.

Still a further object of this invention is thev provision oflafcombination vehicle `burr'iper and buier .clamp construction wherein" vthe lbuife'l" means may be mounted to extendl above 'or below, 15

the bumper and inlsubstantiallyfany desirable' lo`' cation on the bumper as maybe desired.

' Anotherobject of the. invention is the provision-of combination bumper and buffer constructionL whereinthebuifermeans are preferably sel 20 cured in position with relative parts of the bump-"f gerpriorto the assembling ofxthe said bumper parts into the, finished bumper; y t

f An additional `-object lof tneinvetion is the provision of anew and novel method of making 25 .n

a vehicle bumper.. l M While some of-the moresalientfeatures, charf` acteristics, advantages and process stepsv embody- -a L ing this invention,havebeenrabove zpoirted'out, l others will become apparent fromzthe following 30 .The invention' includes these andloth'er' features and stepsof Aconstruction and combinations f of parts hereinafter describedVandshown in a=` preferred form of the drawing, asmore partic`u-jr`35` larly indicated by the claims.`

, On the drawing;4 Figurel is a plan View ofqa vehicle bumper including back or; cushion bars andLembOdying v` principles of thepresent invention'. -2` #40 Figure'2` is a front elevational View ofthe structure Lshown in Figure l1.

Figure 3 -isanenlarged, fragmentary, vertical f sectional view, withI parts in elevation, taken'substantially as indicatedv by vline #III-III of Figvure 1. y

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, withv parts shown in elevation and parts' omitted` n for the purpose of clarity, taken substantially 'as' indicated by lineIV- IV of Figure-1, showingv a v I .v slightly vdifferent form ofconstrction shown on'the vdrawing;r y l l 1 In the illustrated embodiment'ofthe v'presenti` invention, there is seen a. vehicle'bum'per which includes upper andl lower confronting impact plates 5 and 6 respectively. These impact Vbars are preferably bent edgewise tol provide in general a longitudinally arcuate shape, and have their ends trimmed in a somewhat distorted arcuate manner as indicated at 'I to provide a streamline effect. Also in keeping with the, streamline arched transversely to thus present convex outer faces and concave inner faces. Of course, such transverse arching Vof vthe bars materially adds to their strength without increasing their weight, and in addition, presents an aid in construction and assembly that will be more apparent hereinafter.

f course, with the impactfbars 5 andi so arranged in confronting spaced relationship to each other, it is feasible to provide a lsuitable facing element or strip. This facing strip can, if desired, be of metal and still remain within the teaching of this invention, but in keeping YWith the modern commercial practice, it is.

may, if so desired, be clamped to thefacingstrip j deemed preferableto provide a' resilient facing strip 8 made of rubber, rubber composition, or

any other suitable material. Asseen more clear.

, ly in yFigure 3, the facing strip 8 or impact re'- ceiving element is outwardly arcuate to provide a longitudinally extendingl nose ffor the bumper; preferably conforming in curvature with the bars 5` and 8 to enhance the streamlinev effect. `'Io form an impact receiving unit the facing strip 8 is preferably provided with a backing. 9 of metal or some other rigid substance.` I n the instance shown in Figure 3, thebacking 9 is in the form of a steel channel embracing a vdovetailed extension I of the facingv strip 8.v l'I'he backing 9 8 but it is deemed vbetter practice to bond the backing to the strip. This bonding may be accomplished by the now` known 'practice'of vulcanizlng rubber to steel. .The backing 9 is shapedl on its 4lateral surfaces to fit the interior convcavities of the impact bars and 6, 'and in the illustrated instance, the backing is also outwardly" flanged as at I I to overlie the forward edges of the bars 5 and 6 to render a 'completely syrnrmetrical appearance.

It will, of course, be understoodthat the facing element or impact receiving unit hereinabove described 'need not be""one `elongated 'unit as shown, IbutmightV-in any well-known manner,- be made of a plurality of shorter separated units.A

To hold the bars and impact receiving unit in proper position, the bars are preferably clamped .over the impact receiving unit byrmeans of spaced bolts |2 extending through suitable apertures in thebars. Each bolt I2 is provided with a streamlined head |3 and is held-in position by a nut and lock washer connection I I onvthe underside of the bumper. The bumper is provided withany suitable form of back` or cushion bars I5, these bars being inthis instance shown as f substantiallyk U-shaped, eachleg of which is provided at its forward end with a suitable'loop I6 engaged around one of the bolts |2.` The forward end of each leg upon'the cushionbars I5 is prefer ably reduced as seen in Figure 3 to extend between the impact bars 5 and 8 and thus embrace the respective bolt I2. Between such a loop I6 and the bars 5 and 8 suitable washers or spacing elements l1 are provided to maintain the bars 5 and 8 a proper distanceapart and jstill provide a solid and rigid lconstruction with the impact receiving means firmly clamped between the bars.

Bumper guards or brackets I8 Vare also provided with the bumper above -described and in the present instancel forma novel structural comtends lonly in one direction either above or below the bumper, and each is formed in a winged `strean'iline shape having a hollow interior (Fig-l L ure 4) and a bottom 'or seat portion |82 vcurved effect, the bars 5 Aand '8 are-each preferably for: intimate engagement over the convex surface of the respectiveimpact bar 5 or 8 as the case may be. A'boltand nut connection I9 vbetween the wings |8| of a guard |8, the bolt passing through a suitable aperture in the bottom ofthe bracket and the respective bar 5 or 5, securely holds the bracket in proper position upon the bumper. If so desired, the guards may lalignment with the lower guards. It is also apparent that by the simple facility of drilling a hole in one ofthe impact bars 5 or 6, the guards I8 may be disposed at any desirable location along the bumper.

As will be observed, the wings of each guard I8 form together a. converged` face with inclined side impact surface portions |8| which will cam aside colliding objects. 'The free end of each guard` projects forwardly as at |83l and willlimit relative verticalmovement between the guard and such objects inonedire'ction. The guard, rearwardly of the free end |83, has an inclined surface |84 which will cam a bumper interlocked therewith vertically in a direction to unlock the same upon forward pull of such bumper against the cam surface. These features as well as those set forth above with respect to the guard are easily discernible in Figures l, 2 and4.

The bumper construction described hereinabove lends itself to ra. new method of making, or more speciiicallyto a new method of assembly. rIhe facing unit 8,with or -without the backing 9 is individually formed, as is each of the impact bars 5 and 6. Afterthe forming and finishing of these respective parts, the bars' 5 and 6 are clamped over the unit by means of the bolts I2 in the manner previously described. The buffer brackets I8, as aforesaid, are so designed as to be individually attachable to the impact bars 5 and 5 prior lto the assemblyv of vthese bars and the facing unit into a complete bumper.-

substantially vthe same contour as the facing strip 8 above described, is utilized in this instance..

However, in this instance, a backing 22 consisting of a rigid strip, preferably metal, is se,- cured to the facing strip 8a in yany desiredmanner, or lbetter by bonding as aforesaid. 'I'he backing 22"extends above and below the portion |0a of the facing stripso as to seat within the grooves 2| in thethickened portion 20 of the bars 5 and 6. Of course, the facing unit is then 'bination withfthe bumper. vEach guard I8 lexrmly held-in position when the bars 5 and 8 are.

clamped thereupon as above set forth by means of thebolts |2.

It 'is obvious that the construction shown in Figure-4 lends itself to thesame novel method of making or assembly as does the construction inFigures 1, 2 and 3.

n 2,662,313 s From the foregoing, it is apparent that we have v tion and economical to manufacture under the p new and novel method presented herein for making and assembling the bumper or under some other method.

We are aware that changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and we, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than is necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a vehiclev bumper, a pair of confronting impact bars having opposed grooves in their inner faces, a facing element of resilient material, a rigid backing on said element between said bars and seated in said grooves, and means to maintain said bars clamped on said backing.

2. In a vehicle bumper, apair of confronting impact bars, a facing element disposed between said bars, clamping means holding the bars clamped against said facing element, and a cushion bar also extending between said confronting bars and kept in position by said clamping means.

3. Bumper construction comprising a pair` of impact bars, a cushion elementdisposed between 4 the forward parts of said bars, a bumper bar guard mounted on one of said bars and extending vertically substantially beyond said one bar to prevent another bumper from riding said one bar, and means shielded by said guard and mounting the guard on said bar.

4. Bumper construction comprising apair of 5. A cushioning unit for a bumper and includ-` ing a relatively rigid rear attachingV and. rein-- forcing part and a relatively elastic front buffer part providing recesses at the upper and lower portions thereof, upper and ,lower impact' barsv projecting into the respective recesses, and means clamping said bars and unit in the relation mentioned, said front part projecting forwardly of said bars to yieldably' shield the same.

6. Bumper construction comprising a pair of impact bars, a cushion impact element disposed between the forward parts of said bars, a bumper bar guard extending vertically substantially beyond one of said bars to prevent another bumper from riding on said one bar, and means shielded by said guard and mounting the guardv in position.

7. A bumper assembly comprising a pair of vertically spaced opposed transversely curved impact bars presenting opposed inner concave faces .and upper and lower convex outer faces ofsubstantial width, an impact element of resilient material carried by said bars and having a portion y i disposed protecting an edge of said bars, and means retaining said bars in assembled relation.

8. A bumper assembly comprising a pair of vertically spaced opposed transversely curved impact bars presenting opposed inner concave faces and upper and lower outer convex facesv of substantial width, an impact element of resilient material clamped between said pair of bars and extending outwardly thereof, and means to retain said bars and said impact element in assembled relation.

9. In a bumper assembly comprising a pair of vertically spaced opposed bars arranged presenting upper and lower horizontally extending outer faces of substantial width, a guard having a horizontally extending base adapted to seat on one of said faces, said guard having a pair of wings.

extending vertically from and integral and substantially longitudinally coextensive with said base and disposed to provide converging impact faces projecting vertically from the outer face of the bar.

10,-In a bumper guard assembly comprising a pair of vertically spaced bars arranged presenting upper and lower horizontally extending outer faces of substantial width, a guard having a horizontally extending base adapted to seat on one of said faces, saidguard having a pair of converging wings extending vertically from and substantially longitudinally` coextensive with said' base, said wings being each shaped to define a rearwardly extending cam surface at their free edge and being disposed to project vertically from the outer face of the bar.

HERBERT S. JANDUS. BLADEN M. SHORT. 

